Break the Chains
by Ria Jellyfish
Summary: AU inspired by the Synchronicity Vocaloid Song Series. Dragons are naturally destructive creatures, one having the land wrapped around it's figurative little finger. A Performer must be selected to quell the beast. It has been that way for centuries. But that doesn't mean everyone will just sit back and let it happen... ON HIATUS.


_"The next mage has been selected." The voice rung the blonde man from his senses. "Apply the mask."_

_"N-No! P-Please!" The man begged. The people surrounding him didn't react, restraining his weak struggles and pitiful voice. His begs and pleads for mercy fell upon deaf ears. Once the priests had made a decision, it was seen through to the very end._

* * *

The man jolted from his memories, his hands instinctively shooting to the mask that permanently covered his eyes. He shuddered, a choked sob escaping his lips at the thought of the searing agony of the mask being practically welded to his face. Yes, he could remove it, but not without yanking his eyes out with it.

_Malyth._

That damn name was torment to the man.

The creature he had to watch over. A small child's dream; seeing a dragon on a daily basis.

The mage had been selected to be held responsible due to his abilities in the field of magic and he'd be stuck there till his dying day, much to his obvious dismay. He wouldn't have cared as much if it weren't for the fact he had remain in the caverns of the creature called home, unable to go up to the surface, unable to feel the sunlight on his face or feel the grass on his toes, things that regular, normal, boring people took for granted.

Instead, to have himself heard, he had to use that blasted magic that was the reason for his misfortune to communicate with the man whose family line were responsible for his imprisonment.

Oracle Lukas.

It wasn't like the bastard cared for the good of the people. He only cared about lining his pockets with the gold they gave to quell the dragon. In return, Lukas took note whenever the dragon was growing tired of it's... company.

Every few years, anything from two to thirty, the dragon would kill. No, no one from the surface world, but the one who was meant to calm it, the one who sung to it and danced for it, offered prayers for the people in the world above and kept it from ending the world.

This was the Performer.

They could be anyone. But the dragon always spoke of who they wanted, who it wanted to be next. No matter their age, gender, race... It always selected, almost at random. Arthur would relay the message to Lukas and... Well...

The next Performer would be chosen, life would go on, and Lukas would be hailed as a hero while Arthur would continue to rot in the depths of the caves.

He shook the thoughts from his head, taking his sceptre and padding across the room. The rocks echoed the sound of his boots moving swiftly across the stone floor in such an eerie way that it had taken him a few days at first to get used to it.

"He cries... He needs a new one..." He muttered softly at the sounds of screams of agony and pleads for mercy. He couldn't interfere. Not yet anyway. The dragon would sleep once this boy had passed, a good five years or so to give them time.

The dragon understood it took the humans time to train the next Performer and would gladly wait a few years so long as it paid off.

"He's requested the next." Arthur said, the message reaching Lukas in a mere few seconds thanks to that damn magic despite the many miles that sat between them.

"Who is it then, you oaf? Spit it out." The impatient Oracle huffed.

"Vargas."

* * *

A small farm sat peacefully just a few miles from the main city of Durwater. The sheep grazed quietly outside as the house woke up for the day, mulling about the fields and minding their own business.

Flavia started the day like any other. She rose, dressed, and went to check on her boys; twins whom had been born only a few months prior. The only way to tell the two apart were their hair, the younger having a lighter shade, and their quirks.

The older was stubborn and fussy, refusing cuddles unless he initiated them. The younger was the complete opposite, happy, silly, and loveable. She knew she wasn't meant to have favourites, but the younger was growing on her faster than his grouchy sibling. Both woke as they felt their mother's presence.

"Morning Feli." Flavia said, smiling as the younger reached up and grasped her fingers with his tiny hand. Feliciano was already happy, despite being woken up so early in the morning. His brother, Lovino, however, was grumpy and looked about ready to kick up a fuss, scowling as vividly as a tax collector being denied entry to a property. It was only when the mother lifted them both from their shared crib and balanced one on each hip that he snuggled into the woman's side.

"Romulus!" She yelled through the quaint farmhouse. Her father-in-law grumbled something from his room. "Oy! Do you want that kind of language passing onto the boys?"

The man chuckled. "They're too young to tell what I'm saying."

"You'd be surprised." Flavia grumbled, taking both of the babies into the kitchen and sitting them on the table to give her sides a rest.

Romulus finally emerged from his room, clad in his work clothes, and grinned. "How are they doing?" He asked, immediately taking Feliciano and tickling the boy's stomach. Unlike the mother of the two boys, the grandfather was perfectly fine having a favourite. It was always 'Feliciano this' or 'Feliciano that.' Lovino was only mentioned, he wasn't fawned over like the younger boy. Don't misinterpret; the middle-aged man still loved both of them, but the smaller, happy, friendlier boy would always be his first choice.

"Oh, you must let me wash that." She grumbled, gesturing his shirt that was caked in mud, as she took the older boy from the table. He squirmed in his mother's grip for a few moments before snuggling into her side once more, almost reluctantly.

"They aren't falling off yet, so they're still fit to wear."

"You're mad."

"Aren't we all?" The two chuckled.

Life was simple then; when everything went to plan, nothing unexpected happened. The two were just recovering from the death of the boys' father and things had been calm for the time-being. Romulus still had enough fight in him to run the farm, so few problems arose. Okay, that was a lie. Flavia ran the farm, Romulus just helped with what she would let him get close to.

"Feli's really taken a shine to you, eh?"

"Of course he has! He knows who his grandpa is!" Romulus made his point by grinning at the small child in his arms. "Unlike this grouchy little..." The man frowned at Lovino, who made a point to scowl at him.

"Lovi might just be shy... That or you almost dropped him."

"That was an accident!"

"Well, he still holds a grudge against his grandpa. Maybe he's jealous of Feli, eh?"

The two chuckled once more. That one moment, when everything was normal, was when things were perfect.

But then... It ended.

A strong fist knocked on the door. Flavia, after a moment of thought, handed Lovino to Romulus, giving him a warning look that said 'don't you dare drop him,' before she headed over to the door. As she opened it, her gut dropped. Three guards stood outside her home.

"Miss Vargas?" One of the men asked gruffly, in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Yes... Can I help you?" The mother frowned, her hand tightening on the wood of the door frame.

"Your son has been selected." The man said simply.

Her eyes widened. Everyone who lived anywhere nearby knew what that meant. "Y-You can't! They're just children!"

"Ah, there's two?" The man gestured to the others behind him. "Then only one is needed."

Two ventured forth, the entire scene a mere blur of movement. However it transpired, Feliciano ended up in the arms of one of the guards and the trio were leaving just a swiftly as they'd came. The child whimpered for his mother, tiny hands reaching out desperately.

"You can't do this! There must be some other way!" Flavia screamed, lunging at the guard who held her baby.

The movement was halted in a flash. Steel slipped from a belt and soon red split to the floor. A scream erupted from the younger baby as he was whisked away by the men, his mother falling to the ground with a dull thud.

The one responsible for the woman whom now lay on the floor turned his attention to Romulus, who still held Lovino to his chest protectively as the child whimpered, much like Feliciano had only moments earlier.

"No one will know of this, or we'll gut you and your boy like fishes, do you understand? She was killed by bandits."

The Grandfather could only nod, could only agree to the other's demand. Flavia would've killed him, yes, but it was, dare he say, better to have only her blood stain the floor rather than all three of them.

Flavia got a simple funeral, Feliciano's disappeared from their lives only living on in the limited memories of Romulus, Lovino grew up without even being aware of his sibling, who now lived within the Caverns of Lyth, even existed.

Romulus could never take a shine to Lovino as much as he had to Feliciano, but the boy didn't deserve spite because of it. He tried, God he tried, to love the boy as much as he had loved his brother, but there was always the risk that he'd lose the other child that stopped him from caring to his fullest ability.

But what could be done? Life had to go on, and thus it did.

* * *

**A/N:** Yeah, I can never come up with a plot of my own that would hold on for more than a few chapters so I keep writing adaptations of previously written stories with Hetalia characters, do you see my problem?

Why are plots so difficult to write? *Sad face.*

So yeah, inspiration taken from the Synchronicity Vocaloid song series. I'm not aware if there's an actual written down plot else where, but I kinda just took stuff from the PVs and tried to make a flowing narrative.

I need a Beta Reader for this story, but if I can't find someone, I'll probably bug one of my other Betas.

This is after my other stories, just the one I work on when I have writer's block for my other stories. :/

- Ria.


End file.
